THE HAND LUGGAGE ESSENTIALS (UNDER 100ML)

LUSH - EAU ROMA WATER // GARNIER - MICELLAR CLEANSING WATER (Depotted) // NIVEA - RICH REGENERATING NIGHT CREAM (Depotted) // ELIZABETH ARDEN - EIGHT HOUR CREAM  // CAREX - ANTIBACTERIAL SENSITIVE HAND GEL //  COLLECTION - LASTING PERFECTION CONCEALER // BENEFIT - THEY'RE REAL MASCARA // MUA CREAM BLUSHER IN 'BLOSSOM'

So, I’ve recently come home from my holiday in Lanzarote (it was beautiful – pictures to come soon), & I think it was the first trip I’ve ever taken where I packed appropriately. Normally, my hand luggage is a complete disorganised mess; whenever I buy anything at the airport I tend to have a near mental breakdown attempting to find my purse and my boarding pass amongst all my books, magazines, sweets, makeup, drinks and spare clothes. And as if this wasn’t stressful enough, we’re not allowed to take on liquids that exceed 100ml, which as I’m sure you all know, is an absolute nightmare for anyone remotely interested in beauty and skincare.

I’ve never done the whole ‘facial on the plane’ thing before, but I have the driest skin in the world and it always looks terrible whenever I come off the plane; so I thought I’d lead by Lisa Eldridge’s example & use my four hours in the air as a little treat for my skin.

Firstly, I depotted some of my beloved skincare into these airplane friendly tubs and bottles from Primark (Superdrug do some too – but the Primark ones were a pound for four & came with this clear zip-lock bag - bargainous). These bottles and tubes are great even for products that aren’t in your hand luggage but have bulky packaging, I depoted almost all of my skincare into five or six of these and my suitcase was about 1kg lighter than normal!!

As soon as the plane took off, I cleansed using the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water (see my in-depth review here ), to remove any makeup or grime/sweat without leaving the skin feeling dry. Next up, I toned using Lush’s Eau Roma Water (see my fullreview, here), which is uber refreshing, calming and most importantly, hydrating.

  I am yet to find an incredible hydrating face mask (within my budget), so I applied a thin layer of Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream (see my full review, here) all over my face, focusing on the dry spots around my nose, forehead and lips. After this, I relaxed with a hot chocolate, read some of my book (Perks of Being a Wallflower – highly recommended) and kept reapplying the Eight Hour Cream as desired. Around 45mins before landing I thinly applied my Nivea Intense moisturiser and let it sink in.

I did bring makeup with me if I wished to look presentable as I got off the plane, but as my both flights arrived at 9.00pm and 12.45am, makeup was the last thing on my mind. If I wanted to look a little bit more awake though I’d just apply a little Collection concealer under my eyes, around my nose & on any blemishes, MUA cream blush on my cheeks and lips (review to come soon) and a hint of mascara. Boom, natural and presentable.

I did this ‘mini-airplane facial’ on my flight there and back and I really noticed a difference in my skin (particularly on my sunburnt, flaky skin on the return flight); it looked, plump, healthy and hydrated instead of tired, dull and blemished. It gets a little awkward on the plane doing this routine, but I’d really recommend it if your skin if anything like mine; it makes the world of difference.

Have you ever done a ‘mini airplane facial’? What products are your skin saviours on flights?